A Witch and the Broomstick, Crickets, Floo Powder
by Paige Woods
Summary: A challenge fic by Practical Magic. When Harry brings home a girl, his parents do test on her to see if she is right for Harry. Based off of The Princess and the Pea


** The Witch and the Broomstick, noisy crickets and Floo Powder** 

* A challenge given by _Practical Magic_*

* Written By-- _hermioneharry4ever_* 

Category: romance/humor

Keywords: H/Hr, The Princess and the Pea

Rating: PG-13

Spoilers: The Princess and the Pea, 

Summary: A challenge by _Practical Magic_. When Harry comes home with another girl, his parents do tests to see if the girl is perfect for their son. Based on The Princess and the Pea. 

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. This story is based on _The Princess and the Pea_ and Hermioneharry4ever didn't make up the fairy tale.

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Lily gripped her husband's hand. She sat up on the chair next to James' chair. They were waiting for the moment that their son walked through the door with his 'surprise' girl. The parent's knew that their son kept talking about this girl ever since he was home from his final year of schooling. 

However, Lily and James did have a reason to be frightened. Their son, Harry, had brought home so much girls that both had lost count on how many girls Harry had brought home. But, all in the end, the girls never lasted more than two days. It wasn't Harry's fault that the girls usually ended up dumping him after spending at least two days at his house. No, he didn't even know why the girls left him. 

But, what Harry didn't know was that the cause of his many failed relationships were because of his parents. They had a little guest bedroom, about closet size, and only one bed would fit in it. The bed had about hundred mattresses piled on top of it. But, Harry didn't know that. No, his parents usually bewitched the room, so it looked big, and the bed was comfortable. 

Poor Harry also didn't know this; his parents had formed three tests to use on his girlfriends. Test number one was one that tested the strength and politeness of the girl. Test Number One was with a broomstick under the mattresses. If the chosen witch got through the night without asking to switch rooms or complaining in the morning, they went on the second night. 

The second night wasn't as stiff. Lily and James had switched the broomstick with a box of chirpy crickets. This tested how much the bad mood that the witch had in the morning. This was usually as far as anyone had got, and Harry was confused as a person taking a test with all of the multiple choice answers wrong when the witch came out of the rom complaining about the hard mattresses and the noise. 

Even though, nobody had gotten this far, stage three was still existent in Lily's and James's minds. They had planned that they would give the girl a break, and put a little bit of floo powder on the bed. This tested to see how much the witch was aware of something. As Lily and James concluded, if the witch runs out before the third night, she didn't really love their son, so it wasn't no problem. 

Lily turned to look at James. " So, how far do you think this girl will get?" 

James tilted his head a little, and squinted his right eye. " Um, how about the first night. 

Lily nodded. The sound of the door being opened came to Harry's parents' ears. " I'm home!" James heard Harry calling. Footsteps were heard traveling down the halls, and Harry came into view with a girl with waist-long brown, bushy hair. She had brown eyes, and bangs that went a little past her eyebrows. 

" Mum, dad," Harry said, " This is Hermione Granger, the girl who I want to marry someday." Harry smirked as he noticed Hermione blushing, but he continued with the introductions. " And 'Mione, this is my parents, I think it'll be fine with them if you called them Mum and Dad."

" Hello." Hermione said. 

Lily and James each said hello back, and a conversation erupted. 

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Dinner was a lovely occasion. Lily and James learnt that Hermione was the top of her class, and had been tutoring Harry on Charms and Transfiguration for the last four years. They were good friends, and Harry had asked kissed her first. 

Lily had shown Hermione her closet-of-a-room, and when Hermione wasn't looking, made sure that the broomstick was securely under the mattresses. 

In the morning, Lily, James, and Harry waited at the table for their guest. Hermione came in and sat down next to Harry. 

" How was your sleep dear?" Lily asked. 

Hermione just smiled. " I didn't really wanted to bring this up because of manners. My mother told me to always have good manners. Anyways, I slept like there was a broomstick under the mattresses. I think it was just me, because I know you two couldn't do anything like that." 

Lily and James smiled with pleasure. Hermione had passed test number one with full marks. 

One the second day, when Hermione came into the kitchen, James asked, " How was your sleep, Hermione?" 

" I slept very well. Thank you for asking." Hermione replied. Lily looked at Hermione's face. She did look like she didn't have a bad mood. Once again, Hermione passed the test with full marks, and Harry was clueless and content that Hermione hadn't ran away. 

The third morning was a very tense one for Lily and James. They had grown to like Hermione very much. Hermione wasn't mean or distrustful. Hermione was loyal to Harry, trusting, and very interesting. She wasn't into any bad things, but loved to read. So, it became that Lily and James were wishing that Hermione passed the last test. 

Hermione came into the kitchen, and as usual, she took a seat next to Harry. But she kept looking at Lily and James as if she had a question to ask. 

Lily caught this. " What is it dear?" She asked.

Hermione took a drink of her apple juice before replying. " Did you know that you've got floo powder under the mattresses in my room?" 

Lily and James didn't reply. They got out of their seats and started doing mini dancing. Hermione and Harry looked at each other. 

" Harry, I think your parents have been put under a spell." Hermione said logically. 

Harry shook his head, before screaming, " DAD! MUM! WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING?" 

Lily and James stopped dancing. They sat down and explained everything, from the beginning to the end. Hermione and Harry listened attentively, wondering all about everything. Harry finally understood all of the break-ups that had happened when he had brought girls home. Though Harry should've been angry with his parents, he wasn't. For, if they hadn't had done that, he wouldn't have been married to his love of his life. 

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A/N-- _Practical Magic, I hope you like it, since you were the challenger. Yes, I know, it's kind of short, but hey, it was based off of a short fairy tale! This was really hard to write also. I had to delete this and start over until I got the right idea three times! Ok, I'll got back to _The Looking Glass _now. _


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